Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience, and if you do it right, both you and the community you're serving getting something out of it. Too often as visitors, we forget to look at the big picture to realize the impact we're really having. To help you choose a trip that channels your good will into maximum community benefit, here are six important tips.
1. Incorporate your own skills.
If you have no background in medicine and you're volunteering to give shots to the sick, you're not wisely using your skills. There have also been countless articles[1] demonstrating the problem with unskilled teachers educating children. Instead of doing what sounds fun, consider where your skills will be most effective and if you'll really be making a positive contribution doing the tasks you'll be assigned.
An ethical volunteer organization won't just be making sure you get some feel-good photos for social media, they'll be making sure the community is being positively affected.
2. Make sure you're not taking a job from a local.
This one is tricky, as even the most well-meaning organizations and volunteers can do this without knowing it, usually because they haven't fully thought about long-term consequences. Take any company operating under a "buy one, give one" model, for instance. Sounds great on the surface; however, is donating a pair of shoes or glasses taking away the job of a local shoemaker or optometrist? Or does the company produce, train and hire in the communities they serve? Volunteer projects and donations shouldn't compete with locals and their business; it should promote them. These models can be wonderful, as long as implemented in the right way.
Also keep in mind that labor jobs, for example construction, can often be done by a local. Research whether the project you're signing up for truly needs you.
3. Think about whether the project you're doing is sustainable.
Giving isn't always good. In fact, handouts and donations can often have negative consequences, like locals becoming dependent on foreigners, inequalities in a community, support of a begging mafia where money goes toward drugs or organized crime. Just as you shouldn't give coins to begging locals on the road, you shouldn't take part in volunteer projects that don't work to create sustainable change or do more harm than good.
If volunteers come into a community and provide all of the money, resources and skills, that community then becomes dependent on volunteers. The cycle never stops, and the community never actually solves its problems. Yes, you may feed one family today, but what about tomorrow? Instead, look to empower communities by training them, educating them and providing resources that lead to something they can continue with.
One project I love is Project Hello World's Hello Hubs[2], which provides impoverished communities with solar-powered computers with educational software and skill-enhancing games. While volunteers train community members on how to use these hubs, once they understand the hub is maintained by the community.
4. Question anything that seems unusual.
When traveling, whether to volunteer or not, you should always question anything that seems odd or out of the norm. When working with animals, if you see humans riding elephants or laying with tigers or a monkey being made to play an instrument, it's time to question the ethics of whoever is responsible. If you see a project sending you to work with children at an orphanage, especially if you're an unskilled volunteer, you should also think about whether you would ever be able to do this in your home country.
5. Beware of whitewashing.
On my own online responsible tourism magazine, Epicure & Culture, I interviewed[3] Sallie Grayson, co-founder and program director of the volunteer placement organization People & Places. She noted one major issue: Even when voluntourists do ask questions, they may be met with untrue answers. "The answer to 'Where does the money go?' is easily whitewashed by allocating a whole load of costs to 'project development' — but what does that actually mean? It's all too easy to allocate the organization's travel expenses to project development. Is the well-paid chief exec's whole salary allocated to project development? The important question to ask is, 'Where is the money spent?,'" says Grayson.
Another term to question is "community driven." Is the community really who decided they needed you? Ask who determines what work you'll be doing and what they'll really know about you before you arrive.
6. Start with trusted companies.
You should always, always ask questions — these[4] are a good ones to start with; however, a few organizations to begin your research when wanting to volunteer abroad include Grassroots Volunteering[5], Omprakash[6] and People & Places[7]. You can also reach out directly to local NGOs and nonprofits to see what locals actually need, as those on the ground and in the communities will know best.
References
- ^ articles (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ Hello Hubs (www.hellohubs.org)
- ^ interviewed (epicureandculture.com)
- ^ these (www.travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk)
- ^ Grassroots Volunteering (grassrootsvolunteering.org)
- ^ Omprakash (www.omprakash.org)
- ^ People & Places (www.travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk)
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